MIFTAH
Thursday, 28 March. 2024
 
Your Key to Palestine
The Palestinian Initiatives for The Promotoion of Global Dialogue and Democracy
 
 
 

Ramallah – Now Mohammed Najjar, Najwan Abu Nijem and Zeina Ramadan from MIFTAH’s Palestinian Youth Network are confident that they can begin fighting corruption in all shapes and forms along with other youth groups. This is because these three, along with other youths from the entire political and social spectrum in Palestine, have been working diligently for the past few months in training, awareness and education on the subject of corruption and have finally formulated the first youth anti-corruption strategy, which was announced last week, on January 16.

MIFTAH played a strong supporting role for these young Palestinians as did the Anti-Corruption Commission, which signed a memo of understanding with MIFTAH to provide the necessary help and training to youth. The youths were also helped by MIFTAH project coordinator Shadi Zeidat who played a pivotal role in preparing, following up and supervising youth groups side by side with MIFTAH’s program director Lamis Shuaibi, who helped direct these groups over the months of training.

Shuaibi says the network is a developed model for Palestinian youth groups given its diversity at the social, intellectual and geographic levels; it also provided a participatory and safe space for youths with a mutual vision.

However, what was more important to Shuaibi was getting these youths active in the field, or what she called “the practical laboratory” where youths could transfer their acquired knowledge and tools to the real world and make a difference on the ground.

Zeidat says the project raised awareness among youths of the various types of corruption and the means of intervention, through a number of trainings and strategic planning workshops. The youth, meanwhile, are planning to put words into action, first and foremost to contribute along with other youth groups and coalitions, in fighting corruption regardless of their political affiliations or social statuses.

Dr. Azmi Shuaibi, AMAN’s anti-corruption commissioner says he believes the idea of participation in developing a national strategy from the perspective of youths is very important. He says it allows them to benefit from past experiences, build on accomplishments and deal with the gaps, all through the eyes of the youth.

Shuaibi did pose the question as to what role would the youth play in a national anti-corruption plan? He says: “It is the right of our youths to participate in drafting this national plan and in combatting corruption.” He went on to say that we Palestinians face a major problem, which is escaping punishment, saying youths have the right to demand that cases not be given a statute of limitation and that “persecution must be carried out in order to deter and punish the perpetrators of corruption.” He says youths can play a huge role in this, something which must be discussed at length to determine priorities – a discussion Shuaibi recommends between the youth network and all other youth groups in society, in order to emphasize the participatory process between them.

Mr. Rafiq Al Natsheh, head of the Anti-Corruption Commission, also had a clear opinion about the role of youths in fighting corruption. He says he believes in this role, which he called ‘significant and pioneering” and that the youth are the primary building blocks in the process of reaching a society free of corruption and a democratic Palestine. In the fight against corruption, Natsheh said “The commission, MIFTAH and AMAN are all standing in the same trenches in the face of corruption. This is a role we can be proud of.”

MIFTAH CEO Dr. Lily Feidy agrees with both Dr. Shuabi and Dr. Natsheh on the importance of the societal role of youth and the need to promote it, in this case through fighting corruption. She says youths, along with all sectors of society, need to be empowered and given the necessary tools and knowledge in order to combat corruption at the individual and collective levels. She added that the success of this anti-corruption program mainly depends on the ability of the program to construct a complete and integral system to fight it, individually and societally.

Feidy explains that this is the reason the approach targeted the network, which MIFTAH formed two years ago. She says the network provided a group already empowered, trained and aware and which embodied a variety of factional, cultural and social affiliations, but with one united goal. “They proved that our investment in them over the past two years was not wasted,” she says.

Network members also voiced their opinions during the closing session of the conference. In her speech, youth activist Zeina Ramadan conveyed a very clear message to the sponsoring organizations: invest in us, depend on us and you will see a young, productive society comparable to many other advanced societies. She said the youth sector was ready to take on the national responsibly of fighting corruption in Palestine.

Youth representatives Najwan Abu Nejem and Mohammed Najjar, then gave a small presentation explaining the strategy. Mohammed, a third-year law student at Birzeit University began his presentation with data on the percentage of youth in Palestinian society, saying it was 41%, pointing out how much such a considerable sector could to for society. Today however, he said, the percentage of youths was disproportionate with the role given to them.

Najwan Abu Nijem, like her colleague Najjar, praised MIFTAH, saying it was one of the most important institutions that offer youths an exclusive space through awareness programs, training and education. Abu Nijem spoke about the training provided by MIFTAH to two youth groups, which resulted in the anti-corruption strategy.

The strategy, according to the two activists, includes working as a network in cooperation with similar youth groups, organizations and bodies dedicated to fighting corruption. It also includes four issues to be worked on in the future: developing a judicial system responsive to the efforts towards fighting corruption. This requires a detailed plan based on pressure and awareness campaigns for the public; two, developing a supportive legislative environment; three, enacting laws and procedures for fighting corruption, and four, carrying out studies and research discussing the legal environment. This is in addition to developing the social cognitive and awareness skills in the fight against corruption and promoting social values that shun it. Also in the strategy is the creation of a youth monitoring system that would ultimately result in factional pluralism within the government.

The activists showed their eagerness to get started with their strategy to fight corruption, something they know they can accomplish if given the space. This is their future, they say, because in the end, it is the youth that seeks a society free of corruption that will offer them the opportunity to obtain the right job and the right social status based on their own merits, not on grounds of nepotism and favoritism.

 
 
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